South Africa and Sri Lanka Captains. (Photo Source: Gareth Copley/PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images)
Sri Lanka and South Africa will lock horns against each other in Match 4 of the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup on October 7, 2023, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Sri Lanka will enter the contest on the back of a disastrous Asia Cup final, having been bowled out for 50 runs on home soil by India. They also lost their two warm-up matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Despite having a good record in their last 16 games, winning 14 matches, two of their losses have come against India. Their performance in the final has dented their confidence ahead of the marquee event.
Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawicrama, and Pathum Nissanka have all been among the runs for Sri Lanka in 2023, while Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage have performed well with the ball.
However, injuries to Wanindu Hasaranga and the lack of form of Dasun Shanaka and Dhananjaya de Silva are concerns for Sri Lanka ahead of the World Cup. They will need Shanaka and de Silva to step up if they are to go deep into the tournament.
South Africa, on the other hand, will enter the contest on the back of a 3-2 series win over Australia. However, their poor relationship with rain continued in their warm-up match, as they lost to New Zealand by seven runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
All of South Africa’s top six batters got some runs in the warm-up game, with Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen scoring half-centuries.
South Africa have a good record against Sri Lanka in the World Cup, winning four matches and losing one. Marco Jansen has been impressive for South Africa in 2023, taking 16 wickets in 11 games, while Tabraiz Shamsi and Lungi Ngidi have taken 13 and 12 wickets, respectively.
South Africa will look to continue their World Cup dominance over Sri Lanka and start their campaign on a high.
South Africa vs Sri Lanka: Head-to-Head in ODI World Cup
| Matches Played | South Africa Won | Sri Lanka Won | Tied | No-Result |
| 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
South Africa vs Sri Lanka: Head-to-Head in ODI
| Matches Played | South Africa Won | Sri Lanka Won | Tied | No-Result |
| 80 | 45 | 33 | 1 | 1 |
South Africa vs Sri Lanka: Head-to-Head in T20I
| Matches Played | South Africa Won | Sri Lanka Won | Tied | No-Result |
| 17 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
South Africa vs Sri Lanka: Head-to-Head in T20I World Cup
| Matches Played | South Africa Won | Sri Lanka Won | Tied | No-Result |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
South Africa vs Sri Lanka: Head-to-Head in Test
| Matches Played | South Africa Won | Sri Lanka Won | Draw | No-Result |
| 31 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 0 |